KARACHI, Oct 23 (APP): Federal Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, Syed Mustafa Kamal on Thursday said that they have decided that they would increase the export of pharmaceutical equipment and medicines from the current around one billion US dollars to 30 billion US dollars in the coming years.
Addressing after inauguration of “22nd Health Asia-2025, exhibition at the Expo Center here, he said that our target was to elevate Pakistan’s pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical equipment and medicines exports to 30 billion US dollars.
He said that today was a very significant day in Pakistan’s economic history when a three-day exhibition called “Health Asia-2025” was being held at the Expo Center Karachi, where participants, delegates, and companies from over 50 countries were participating. Hundreds of companies and organizations—including healthcare product manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers and all professionals related to the health sector—are gathered here today under one roof, he said.
Syed Mustafa Kamal said that Pakistan’s health sector was achieving new levels of innovation and overcoming new challenges. By the grace of Allah Almighty, in the future, the major boost to Pakistan’s economy will come from its healthcare system.
He said that currently, if there was any sector in Pakistan with the highest export potential, it was the pharmaceutical industry. Our companies are exporting pharmaceutical equipment and components made in Pakistan to every region of the world, he added.
Syed Mustafa Kamal said that the cooperation, collaboration and facilitation between the federal and provincial governments and the industries today were unprecedented. Today, we, the government of Pakistan, the Ministry of Health, and the entire government, are united with the industries, he said and added, for this, we have not just made statements; we have gathered all industry stakeholders, held numerous meetings with them, and asked them: “Tell us what the government should do for you to increase your exports. We are ready to do everything necessary.”
He said that we are already working on all required measures and providing the facilitation needed by the industries. By the grace of Allah Almighty, Pakistan will witness the day when the export of the pharmaceutical industry alone will exceed 30 billion dollars.
He said that the people of Pakistan should know that we currently import approximately 500 million US dollars worth of vaccines. By the grace of Allah Almighty, within about a year to a-year-and-a-half, we will locally produce all the vaccines that we currently import. The Government of Pakistan, the Federal Ministry, is going to start local production; we are going to begin local manufacturing, he said.
Syed Mustafa Kamal said that we have spoken with manufacturers as discussions are being taken place with Chinese, Saudi Arabian, and Turkish companies and their governments. By the grace of Allah Almighty, Pakistan will soon see the time when we will produce all our vaccines locally, he expressed confidence.
He said that we will save 500 million US dollars, and in the coming years, since the population is growing, we would have had to spend nearly one billion US dollars on imports. We will not only save the one billion US dollars, but we will also produce vaccines here that we will export all over the world, he said.
The federal minister said that by the grace of Allah Almighty, it would be a vaccine of World Health Organization (WHO) standards. “We have the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council, the institution that produces 22,000 doctors every year. Pakistan’s 22,000 doctors are renowned all over the world. We will, God willing, increase this number of 22,000 in the coming years. We will fulfill our own country’s requirements and our doctors will also serve worldwide”.
He said that currently, there was a global demand for 2.5 million nurses. In Pakistan, we have the capacity for 900,000 nurses. We have reviewed and revamped our Nursing Council, and by the grace of Allah Almighty, according to modern requirements, we will produce nurses in our country who will meet domestic needs, and who will also serve worldwide.
The federal health minister said that we have the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan, institution, which regulates medicine and medical equipment. We have computerized our regulations. Permissions that used to take our industries three years are now granted in 20 day. Allah Almighty has enabled us to accomplish this. You open your computer, log in, fill out the form, and without meeting any official, the certificate arrives in the email in 20 days. This is happening in Pakistan today, he said.
Syed Mustafa Kamal said that we will very soon achieve WHO Level-3 accreditation, which will open up our exports to 65 countries around the world. Today, in Pakistan, combined federal and provincial governments are spending amounts to Rs 1156 billion annually—this is the total health budget for the entire Pakistan, including all four provinces, Islamabad, Azad Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan.
He said that in the next 10 years, by the will of Allah Almighty, a time will come when the government will exit the business of running hospitals. Instead of building hospitals ourselves, we should leverage the market.
He said that according to a WHO report, 13 million people in Pakistan have fallen below the poverty line solely due to healthcare expenses. 13 million people, who were not poor before. So today, in Pakistan, people are falling below the poverty line because of illnesses and medical treatment.
The government understands this, it knows this. We have made a large, comprehensive plan, through which, God willing, we will, in the future, provide a health insurance project for people of Pakistan. As work on this progresses, we will keep the people informed, he said.
In the next 10 to 15 years, the Federal Health Minister said, no one in the world will die from certain cancers because a vaccine for them has been invented. But in Pakistan, people are still dying from them, because we have confusions in our minds saying that this is a some conspiracy—that getting these shots, taking these vaccines, these drops, is some foreign plot, a conspiracy. They say it will reduce the fertility rate, the ability to have children. If it were being reduced, would 7 million children be born in Pakistan.
He said that our job is not to change hearts and we do not have the power to change hearts. Our job is to raise our voice. In the coming days and years, if someone falls ill and dies, the circumstances will be such that people won’t die from these major diseases if they get vaccinated.
He said that he wants to say to the people of Pakistan, look, in the entire world, only two countries still have polio—Pakistan and Afghanistan. For God’s sake, we have had 30 cases this year, and strangely, there are 70,000 refusals. Who are these people, who are these parents, at whose doorsteps we are coming to give their children drops for free, and you are refusing.
He said that Healthcare – is the term for protecting humans from disease. Healthcare is everything from a child’s birth, to vaccinating them, to providing them with clean drinking water, to arranging for their cleanliness. All this work falls under the name of health. Prevention is better than cure.
So there is a need to prevent people from falling sick in the first place. And how will they be prevented from falling sick, when they get vaccinated, when they take polio drops. When a child is born, we vaccinate them against 12 diseases. People used to die from these diseases before; they don’t die from them now precisely because they and their children were vaccinated, he said.
Earlier, the minister formally performed inauguration of Health Asia-2025 conferences, seminars and workshops along with other notables.